University looks to deal with professors who 'retire in office'

• Ball State currently doesn’t have a policy to handle professors who “retire in office” once they receive tenure.

• The Board of Trustees encouraged University Senate to create a policy for this problem.

• Provost Terry King says this type of policy is important for a university.


The university is looking at ways to deal with a small number of professors who “retire in office” after receiving tenure.

The Board of Trustees has encouraged University Senate to make a policy by the end of Fall Semester to address chronic low performance.

“We don’t have a good way of handling it,” Provost Terry King said in University Senate on March 20.

There is no policy right now that addresses faculty who are identified as low performing after they receive tenure.

However, a policy would potentially direct professors whose annual evaluations are chronically unsatisfactory to a peer-review process that already exists.

King said through the peer review process, the faculty member will be given a one-year development plan and if it is unsuccessful, it could result in termination.

This type of policy is an important part in the development of an institution, he said.

In two open forums at the beginning of April, faculty members could provide feedback. The promotion and tenure committee is currently formulating the policy.

Kip Shawger, Faculty Council chair, said all faculty currently must complete an annual review that includes course evaluations and information about their activities in teaching, scholarly work and service to the university.

Through the annual reviews, departments identify low performing faculty.

Shawger said student course evaluations play a role in this process, as they are submitted in the report.

David Pearson, chairman of University Senate, said a new policy would not result in “dreaded, post-tenure review.”

Faculty are evaluated for seven years after they are hired before they receive tenure. Some universities address this problem by reviewing faculty periodically after they receive tenure, in the post-tenure review.

Pearson said Ball State has good faculty members and low performance is not common, but it is out there.

“We do know there are faculty members who have decided to retire in their office, and there needs to be a connection between that and helping departments move forward,” he said. “If someone isn’t lifting their load, you are.”

Shawger said he was pleased the board wants changes to come from University Senate instead of top-down.

“[The board] could make the decision for us,” he said. “They don’t want to appear heavy-handed, but it is under their jurisdiction.”

President Jo Ann Gora also addressed the issue during University Senate, encouraging the group to take action so the board can vote on something in the fall.

“This is an issue that the board has been talking to us about for a while,” Gora said. “It’s an area they have a significant interest in based on trends all across the country. Ball State is not the first in the country; it has been done in most institutions across U.S.”

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